Notes: Yin and Yang #1

Yin and Yang #1

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Inavacuyum / SnappieVouz

Microstakes - Using ABC and creative play at micros

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Hand #1 - Q6s on the button - ABC Triple barrel play

This is the type of hand you can open from the button first in until you're given a specific reason not to - i.e. a loose or aggressive player in the blinds, short stacks in the blinds, skilled players in the blinds

Preflop: Hero raises to $1.50, SB calls

Flop: 823r ($3.5): SB checks, Hero bets $2.45, Villain calls

((ME: First thought is a standard c-bet. May have to go two streets here to get Villain to fold.))

C-bet is standard on this dry of a flop. What does Villain have when he calls?

((ME: Calling range is pretty wide here. Overcards can certainly justify the play as we still don't have to have anything and make up a significant portion of his range. Any pocket pair can also justify the call))

Turn: K ($8.4): SB checks, Hero bets $5.90, Villain calls

((ME: This card is a bit more in our wheelhouse, but it's such an obvious continuation card against a player with any kind of handreading ability. Making the bet here will likely lead to betting on the river if we're called.))

Villain has already been identified as a thinking player. He also knows that this is an obvious continuing card, and is likely to call us with a wide range here. Key point - Villain isn't exceptionally strong here.

River: J ($20.20): SB checks, Hero bets $16, Villain folds

Why do we three barrel here? Villain's range is still the same as it was on the flop. There's a lot of overcards on the board that can kill his more marginal hands - small, medium pocket pairs go away as do any still unpaired hands.

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Hand #2 - 44 in the SB -

Preflop: Hero raises to $1.50, BB calls

BB is a tight TAG - 16/14

Flop: QQ2 ($3.50): Hero bets $2, Villain raises to $6, Hero reraises to $14, Villain folds

C-betting here is standard, but again the flop is so dry that Villain will likely peel. A lot of his range is pocket pairs and he's unlikely to give up on AJ-type hands in this spot.

What is Villain representing here? His play makes no sense. If he has a queen, he's going to call as he would with a fair number of weaker made hands. This is a fairly common play.

The reraise by Hero puts Villain to the test. We can still have a queen here, and Villain is unlikely to have a really strong hand. Tighter players aren't going to get into a chicken war with us.

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Hand #3 - 99 in the SB - Thinking beyond ABC

Preflop: UTG raises to $1.5, Hero calls.

UTG is a LAG thinking player who views Hero as spazzy and splashy.

Flop: 993 ($3.5): Hero checks, Villain bets $2, Hero raises to $6, Villain raises to $13.50, Hero bets $22, Villain shoves, Hero calls.

Value is going to be difficult to get in this spot. Can we take advantage of our image with this player?

((ME: This flop is so painfully dry and so unlikely to have hit us that we may be able to get called on a check-raise. A pocket pair is unlikely to go away so cheaply and will likely call. He may even come back over the top with an overpair or a bluff like AK.))

Calling here leaves our range fairly wide - it's the ABC play.

When he plays back at us, we click back to him with a minraise to make it look like a game of chicken.

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Hand #4 - KJo in the SB - ABC, picking off the bluff

Preflop: Hero bets $1.50, BB calls

BB is a known fish/casual player. Unlikely to be thinking about anything beyond the cards in his hand.

Flop: Q83r ($3): Hero bets $2, Villain calls

((ME: easy c-bet in this spot against this kind of player. He'll be calling with a queen or an eight, along with pocket pairs from 99-JJ - and probably from 44-77 as well. We're looking to pick up the pot cheaply in spite of having missed. One thing we don't have to worry about here is getting reraised. If it does happen, we're out of the pot in a flash.))

Standard.

Turn: 8 ($7): Hero checks, Villain checks.

Bad card for us. Villain isn't going to be worried about it, so we have no reason to continue betting.

River: Q (7): Hero checks, Villain bets $3.75, Hero calls. Villain shows 77.

((ME: We can't profit from betting here. Villain isn't folding even A-high on that board to any sane bet, and he could very easily hold the full house. Check it to showdown and hope the board just counterfeited his 66.))

Villain is unlikely to have a Q or 8 in this spot, as he likely would have bet the turn. We have no reason to suspect him of anything tricky. We have no reason to bluff, as we're not getting called by worse... but we could C/C with the intention of catching a bluff from weak hands trying to steal the pot.

Villain probably isn't betting A-high for fear of being caught in a trap. If he bets here, he either has the goods or he's on something worthless - and worthless makes up most of his range.

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Hand #5 - KK in the BB - Creative inducing?

Preflop: CO bets $1.50, button raises to $5, Hero calls, CO calls.

((ME: No matter what our action is here, we're representing a ton of strength. Cold 4-betting here pushes out most of the hands we beat while keeping in the AA/KK types. Call here and look to play a flop, or call an all in if the OP shoves.))

Give them a chance to make mistakes. Call.

Flop: 976r ($15.25): Hero checks, CO checks, button bets $20, Hero raises to $45 all in, CO calls, button calls - CO shows KTs, Button shows QQ

((ME: No immediate reason to lead out here. There are two active players behind and its very likely one of them is going to do the betting for us. The question is, what do they have and how do we want this hand to play out?

Button's range is mostly made up of overcards and big pocket pairs - TT+, AQ+. He hasn't hit this board in any meaningful sense, but may have value in the form of an overpair. CO's range is wider, extending down into more pocket pairs as he was given excellent odds to chase.

If we check, we can expect CO to check in most cases as well. We can then flat the button's likely bet and go to the turn well ahead of his range. Alternately, we can check-raise and take down a farily large pot.))

Button's bet of $20 effectively commits us to this pot and check-raising all in is the only option. Flatting and shoving the turn is pointless given the stack sizes.

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Hand #6 - AA on the button - Creative

Preflop: Hero raises to $1.25, SB raises to $4.25, Hero calls.

SB is 3-bet happy and the BB is a short stack, so we want to keep our opens small. ABC play here is to 4-bet, but this player will 3-bet a lot and therefore he's going to have to fold a lot when we come over the top. Also, he has a high C/R tendency in 3-bet pots - we're happy to let him make this mistake against us.

Flop: KQ3r ($9): SB checks, Hero bets $6, Villain bets $19, Hero shoves, Villain folds.

Make it look like a standard c-bet to encourage the C/R. When he makes the C/R, there's no reason to simply call - we can only do that with a made hand and he'll shut down with the weaker made hands he might have - AQ, for example. Pushing here may get him to spaz call, and failing that it'll push him out of the hand and we won't be at risk for being drawn out on.

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Hand #7 - QTs UTG - Creative river play against floater

Preflop: Hero raises to $1.75, MP calls, button calls

Reasonable hand to open from UTG. Unfortunately, we get called by two decent regs.

Flop: K98tt - we have flush draw ($6): Hero bets $4.50, button calls

((ME: Against two decent players I have a likely 12 outs to the best hand, but I'm unlikely to be good now. If I raise here, a king is likely to call and I'm going to be in trouble on the turn if I don't hit my hand as my equity will have fallen off sharply. I want to get as much money in the middle as I can now, particularly as my hand doesn't lose much equity if both of these players come along for the ride.

My first instinct is to check here, hoping for a KQ/KJ type hand to take the lead in this spot, then C/R big to apply pressure.))

Both of these guys are habitual floaters, so the plan is different. We lead, expecting to be called in at least one spot and planning to get them off weak hands later.

Turn: 9 ($15): Hero bets $11, Villain calls.

((ME: What could button have floated with? Quite a lot, actually. Ax of hearts, QJ/QT/JT, any K... The fact that the board paired isn't likely to have improved our hand and his opinion of our hand is either a draw or a king... continue to fire here, representing the made hand.))

While this isn't the best barrel card, consider what will happen if we check. If we C/C, any draw that hits is going to be obvious and we're not going to get paid. Leading here means that Villain isn't automatically going to put us on the hit draw.

River: 4, completing flush ($37): Hero checks, Villain bets $32 all in, Hero calls. Villain shows TT.

The ABC play here is to shove, but we know this guy loves to float. He's unlikely to have a hand strong enough to call the push. If we check the river, our hand looks weak - straight draw that missed or a weak king. Villain might turn a made hand into a bluff here if we check.

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Hand #8 - 65s in the SB - Creative play v a good LAG

Preflop: CO raises to $1.50, Hero calls

CO is crazy LAG, BB is inexperienced fish

Flop: 943tt ($3.50): Hero bets $2.50, Villain raises to $7.50, Hero reraises to $24, Villain folds

((ME: Plan for the hand... I know the guy in position is very aggro and I'm not strong enough to take a lot of pressure - at best I have 14 outs against overcards, but only 6 outs to the actual nuts. ABC would be to C/C and try to represent any of the draws that come home.))

Raising here is almost certainly going to lead to a reraise from Villain - which is a good thing. He's going to be doing that with a lot of his range, much of which can't stand up to the 4-bet. When we do wind up getting all in, we still have some reasonable equity.

When you're out of position, look for ways to seize the initiative.

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Hand #9 - KQs in the SB - Creative, exploting aggression

Preflop: Button raises to $1.50, Hero raises to $5.50, BB raises to $14, Hero shoves, Villain folds.

((ME: Coach says two options - either call and play our hand for its actual value as a suited broadway, or 3-bet against the possible steal raise))

Read on the button is that he's a standard reg. BB is overly aggressive. Given the nature of the BB, we expect a squeeze if we call and can't quite come back over the top.

The cold four bet makes things awkward. What does it look like we have? We just raised a likely steal raise - that doesn't require a big hand, just some nerve. This guy likes to take pots away given his percentages, so he doesn't have to have a monster here. If we reraise, we're representing the monster.

This is NOT the play you would make against someone without a specific read on their aggression.

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Hand #10 - A9o in the BB

Preflop: SB opens to $1.50, Hero calls.

Villain is listed as being a good, thinking player.

((ME: Thinking player will realize that we can raise him with a lot of hands here, so his range will be somewhat polarized - trash that can easily fold to a raise and hands that will do well against a raise. There's no reason to build a big pot here just yet and he doesn't have to have a hand. Call, keep our range very wide and take advantage of our position and a decent hand for HU.))

Villain likes to 4-bet when reraised after making a late-position raise, so calling is the preferred play.

Flop: 652tt ($3): Villain bets $2, Hero calls

((ME: pretty much an autoclick for him. That board hits nothing, and we can't represent anything by raising. This seems a perfectly reasonable float.))

Turn: 3 ($7): Villain bets $4, Hero raises to $12, Villain calls

((ME: neither one of us is representing much here. Do we have a four? Vanishingly unlikley. Once again, call.))

We can represent the four a bit more reasonably than I would think. Blind battle, so we could have 54, 64, A4 combinations. By betting on the turn, people are going to be thinking that we have a legitimate hand here.

What does the call mean? Overpairs, flush draws

River: K, completing flush ($31): Villain checks, Hero bets $12.50, Villain folds.

Pushing makes it look bluffy. The smaller bet looks to be for value. He can't really rebluff us here, so any shove leads to an immediate fold on our part.

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Hand #11 - T7s on the button - Creative floating

Preflop: CO raises to $1.50, Hero calls

CO is a decent regular at these stakes, most likely a winning player.

((ME: This could easily be a steal raise by the CO, so coming over the top isn't a bad option. We can fold in a hurry against a four bet, and if called we have position and a hand that isn't utterly hopeless. Obviously, just folding is ABC. Can we call? Seems the worst option of the three.))

More inclined to reraise in this spot against blinds that like to mash the squeeze button. We can call here and take the flop in position with a hand that can hit hard.

Flop: Q54r ($3.75): CO bets $2.50, Hero calls

((ME: Villain is a regular, so this bet on his part could be anything that he raised with preflop. What it likely isn't is a monster. Raising here doesn't represent anything - there's nothing to be gained by raising with a queen or a set. This is a good spot to float, intending to take it away on the turn or river.))

Floating works out for the reasons discussed earlier - there's no hand in which a raise makes sense, which makes the raise look bluffy.

Turn: 2 - hero now has flush draw ($8.75): CO bets $6, Hero raises to $16.50, Villain calls

Attacking here allows us to rep a lot more than we could on the flop. This is how "we would play" a big queen or a set, and there's also the threat looming of several draws.

What does Villain's range include? Any Q, JJ-TT, possibly some club draws.

River: J ($41.75): Villain checks, Hero bets $30 all in

What's Villain folding if we bet here? QT/Q9? Maybe. AQ/KQ? Maybe not.

We didn't have many hands that we could have called with on the flop that picked up a draw on a turn. Our hand looks like a made hand. If Villain is on a bluff catcher, he's under a lot of pressure

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Hand #12 - 99 in the BB

Preflop: UTG raises to $1.75, button calls, Hero calls

((ME: obviously not folding in this spot. Our hand is way too strong. If we squeeze, we are giving up a bunch of potential postflop value if we hit with a strong hand leading UTG and the short stack on the button likely to pay us off if he hits. Flat.))

Standard call.

UTG is loose-passive/bad. He's playing 44/21/0.8.

Flop: 732tt ($5.5): Hero bets $4, UTG calls, button folds

Make a plan for the hand. UTG is likely to check the flop. We don't want it to check around as there are a LOT of cards we don't want to see on the turn, and if UTG starts firing we can walk away. He isn't bluffing.

Turn: 3 ($13.5): Hero bets $8, UTG calls

((ME: What does Villain's call tell us? Not a whole lot. He's a passive player doing what passive players do. He could be on any pocket pair, any seven, any flush draw, and a lot of overcards. We're still well ahead of his range here, so continuing the aggression makes sense.))

The three is a blank. Bet again here for value.

River: 3 ($29.5): Hero bets $13, Villain folds.

((ME: There's $30 in the pot and Villain has just over a pot sized bet left behind. If we bet here and he raises, we're committed to calling with our boat, so any lead is effectively for $36.

Is Villain calling often enough when he's behind for this to be good? What's he calling with when we raise? Any pair, including any seven. The flush draws that missed are going away - he's not calling a river shove with A-high.

Can we get this passive of a player to bluff? Unlikely.))

Make the small bet to lure Villain in. He's not calling a big bet with mediocre hands.